I wish we had a turtle line or were allowed to park and walk in. They aren't letting anyone park and walk in and have blocked off the parking lot, otherwise that's what I would prefer to do.

Are there no "walkers" at your school? Can't you just park on the street and walk them in/let the go in on their own? We're not supposed to use our parking lot during drop off (you have to drive through the lot to get to the drop off area, so having cars trying to park, especially those reversers, would be nightmare.) A lot of parents just park on the street and walk their kids/let the kids walk themselves in.

I would just park on the street (since parking lot is blocked off) and walk from there. Will the drop-off aides be the same the entire year, or is it a rotation? Hopefully, nicer ones will rotate in? The first couple of weeks are always chaos for drop off and pickup, so they should cut people some slack. The past offenders that have bugged are the parents who get out of the driver's seat, open their trunk to retrieve backpacks, and then escort the kid out of the car. That really defeats the whole purpose of the speedy drop-off line. And that clearly isn't you! I hope things get better for you! Until, then, I would def try to park on the street.

I wish we had a turtle line or were allowed to park and walk in. They aren't letting anyone park and walk in and have blocked off the parking lot, otherwise that's what I would prefer to do. We have practiced but it didn't seem to speed anyone up. We are already unbuckled with backpacks on when we get to a stop, so really all they have to do is get out, it just doesn't seem to be as fast because of the flipping of the seat issue and the two littles are slow. Three of the four need boosters, so I have to put bigger DS at the door because that's the seat we flip up. The two littles aren't mine and I have no idea what is in their backpacks, but they are ridiculously large and heavy, which plays into the issue as well. I did hand out backpacks last week and got yelled at for doing that as well! We'll keep working and I'll try to put a bigger one in the back but he's only a year older than the two youngest. It may help though. Do you think it would be faster if they just drug their bag out of the car instead of wearing them out? This is so frustrating! I don't want to be the problem and it causes so much anxiety for older DS when he's getting yelled at from the aides for helping the little get out.

Geez!!! It really sounds like the aides need to chill. PP had a great point that you are doing the car line a favor by carpooling so FOUR kids are being dropped off in ONE car. You aren't taking 4X as long as it would take for 4 cars to go through the drop off line. I'm 100% certain if you try to get out of the car to help, you will totally get yelled at. Staying in the car seems to be a cardinal rule across all drop-off lines haha! Since you say you have a big SUV, you should be able to fit 2 boosters in the middle and driver's side of the second row (so have 3 kids sit in the middle row), so maybe putting the 2 littlest plus your oldest DS all together in the middle row would help (with your oldest DS by the exit door as normal). It would at the very least make it easier for the 2 littles to get out of the car quickly if they already have their massive backpacks on. Then only one kid is in the 3rd row and your oldest DS can flip the seat for the last kid and help yank the backpack out

Our school also does not allow the park-and-walk because it creates another safety issue (kids trying to walk across the line of cars in the drop-off line...it's just safer for everyone to stay IN the car except for the kids who are all exiting the right side of the car. And at least in our neighborhood, trying to park on the street and walk is next to impossible, and a little dangerous during that crazy period of time.

Drop Off line

The aides need to calm the F down. We have a neighborhood carpool to middle school, and I usually drive 4 kids in the minivan plus there are often two saxophones in the back of the minivan (trunk). No one has ever hassled me for taking a long time (it can take a while to get large kids out of the back and then open up the back to get the saxophones..two had to ride in the back since I also had a 5 year old in one of the captains chairs). I would point out how much you are saving the environment by taking so many kids to school. Canít argue with that

I haven't read all of the replies, but the the aids yelling at you and the kids is completely unacceptable. It's just stressing all of you out and making things worse. I would talk to the school about it. They either need to chill or give the option to park and walk them in.
As far as how to move things a bit faster...DD is unbuckled as soon as we are in the parking lot. She has her backpack on her lap and doesn't put it on until she is out of the car. But I only have one to get out at car line. The aids need to understand that 4 will take a lot longer than 1.

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